Dolls Wearing Ethnic Costumes
With his skillful hands, Nguyen Hoang Anh from Hoang Mai district, Hanoi has created thousands of pretty dolls wearing traditional costumes of Vietnam’s ethnic groups.
Hundreds of hand-made dolls wearing the traditional costumes of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, which are designed and made by Hoang Anh, are on display at his house in Hoang Mai, Hanoi.
Sharing about his work, Hoang Anh said that he always travels for inspiration in his creations. During his trips to the northern mountainous area, Hoang Anh became very interested in the brocaded pieces woven by the ethnic people. When returning to Hanoi, seeing dolls made from paper and wool, he thought of making dolls look more soulful that are interested by tourists.
Hoang Anh then spent two years learning about the cultural traditions and characteristics of each ethnic group, and their costumes. He lived with the local people, listened to their stories and saw how they dressed to get inspiration for his products. For him, making the dolls is a combination of fashion and art.
Creating a doll consists of many phases, such as studying the style and material, then making the doll from composite; shaping and making-up the doll’s face and then sewing costumes with accessories.
He said that each ethnic group has its own costume, associated with unique and typical patterns.
Nguyen Hoang Anh has created numerous dolls wearing thousands of delicate clothes which are miniatures of the costumes of ethnic groups like the Dao, Mong, Thai, Tay, Ha Nhi and Lo Lo to meet both domestic and foreign orders. He now owns nearly 5,000 dolls wearing the costumes of 54 ethnic groups, with two sizes, 25cm and 35cm.
